They look the same in flight. Could be a chukar or a quail. Then again, a duck. As expected, the rabbit is noticeably different. It hops, not flies.
In all cases, the game is clay, all are round and all very breakable, and all are part of the newest shooting game - sporting clays.The act-like-game clays are currently being thrown in a variety of directions at the Wild Wings Hunting and Sporting Clays Club on the eastern shores of Utah Lake.
It is a hunting club for upland birds and waterfowl. Pheasants, quail, Hungarian partridge and chukar for now. Hunting opened last week. Ducks and geese will be hunted when the season starts in October.
The club has been, since it opened a year ago, a center for sporting clay. There are three courses on club lands - one five-stand and two specialty five-stations.
Also on club lands are a clubhouse, bird rearing pens and acres of natural habitat.
Sporting clay is the newest of the clay shoots. But, instead of simply throwing out clay birds in a specific pattern, as with trap and skeet, each target in sporting clays is intended to copy the flight of a bird or the running of a rabbit. It is, too, the most difficult of the three. A good score is considered one or two more hits than misses.
David Nemelka, club president, says the most popular of the three courses is the "Five-Stand." It is the only computer-controlled course of its kind in Utah. A shooter, from one of the five positions, can get any mix of flights and hops from one of six computer-controlled throwers located in strategic places around the five shooting stands.
In each case, the throw is intended to represent the natural flight of game animals.
The No. 1 thrower, for example, is a tower that puts in flight clay birds from behind and over the head of the shooter, similar to the flight of a passing duck or dove.
No. 2 passes from right to left, much like the flight of a crossing pheasant. No. 3 is called the "Springing Teal." It is thrown up, much like a duck might on takeoff from a pond. No. 4 is the beloved rabbit. The disc rolls on edge on an angle away from the shooter, hopping at times over bumps in the ground. No. 5 is an incoming shot from a thrower in front of the shooter, and is intended to represent a decoying duck. And, No. 6 is similar to No. 2, except it flies from left to right, and is intended to represent a dove, quail or chukar.
Actually, any of the throws could represent any number of game birds.
All, however, are intended to sharpen the shooting skills, says Nemelka, "and have fun doing it."
The two five-station courses are also intended to represent the natural flight of game birds. Except where the tosses are mixed, and in some cases in combinations, a shooter stands and calls for five doubles or 10 targets from each of the five stations.
"There are a variety of fun things we do, too," adds Nemelka, "like the `Crazy Quail.' This is very popular. You don't call for the targets, the thrower watches and the second the shooter has reloaded, he can send the targets.
"Another one is called `Poison.' One of the 10 clays thrown is all black. That one you don't want to shoot. That one's poison and if you hit it, you're penalized."
There is, too, a number of different clay birds. The standard bird is 41/2 inches in diameter, is dome shaped and is capped with fluorescent paint. The rocket is the same diameter but is thinner and therefore faster; the "Rabbit" is about the same diameter but about 1/2-inch thick and flat; the "Battue" is thinner still and is often called the "flying razor blade" because of the way it looks in flight; the "Midi" is 31/2 inches in diameter; and the smallest of the all, the "Mini," is just 23/8 inches in diameter and, in flight, looks much smaller.
Because of the variety of different shots and the speed of the targets, hitting them difficult. Bad shooting habits, like stopping the smooth motion of the shotgun on trigger pull, also lowers the score.
Nemelka says the biggest mistake most new shooters make is not giving the bird enough lead and shooting behind.
The sporting clay courses are open to anyone with a shotgun and a wish to try to break a target. The hunting opportunities are open to members only.
For sporting clays, the price for the new five-stand is $7 for 25 birds, $12 for 50.
Nemelka will also be holding some tournament and league shoots this year. A Club Championship shoot, open to all shooters, will be Sept. 28.
The club is reached by taking the Springville exit (263) off I-15 and traveling west for about a half a mile.